A key point was raised today by Jonny McFarlane of the Rangers Review in regard to the January transfer business at Ibrox, in light of the recent League Cup disappointment.
The article was more in relation to the injury situation at the club with several first team figures ruled out through the season, both under Gio van Bronckhorst and now under Michael Beale.
Some scrutiny must be applied to the decisions made to sign players with previous injury problems but in the case of Ridvan Yilmaz and Tom Lawrence, there is no such issue. Instead, they have both suffered the same affliction that meant the manager has been without many players from the outset of his appointment in November.
Why is the treatment room so busy, why so many players injured at the same time, why are the problems occurring? Those are questions that need to be resolved and the manager should be instigating that task.
However, McFarlane pointed out why, with the injury issue in mind, did Rangers wait until late in the January window to get business wrapped up with the eventual acquisitions of Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin? At least one player was expected with up to four said to be targeted in the words of the manager.
Yes, it’s not simple. There are complications with any signings, from negotiations to other interested suitors but the point still stands. In early January, the prospect of an Old Firm final was most likely despite the best efforts of Aberdeen and Kilmarnock, respectively, to prevent it.
The Rangers Review piece questions the strategy which meant the players, not regularly featuring at their former clubs, would not be fully up to speed in time for the decider:
“Given both were acquired late in the transfer window, how much more valuable would it have been for the club to have moved to sign them earlier? Such a strategy proved successful for Celtic in the way they moved in December for one of the game’s standout performers, right-back Alistair Johnston.”
“It’s all very well making successful moves in the market, but getting your work done sharply so they can actually make an impact in decisive games is also important.”
There are a few reasons why Rangers were not successful on Sunday but the lack of match sharpness that saw Raskin and Cantwell reduced to the bench was preventable. Ultimately, it was the manager’s call and he takes the flak for introducing the new arrivals too late in the game to make a meaningful difference.
The sooner the better, in more ways than one.